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Magerko Receives NSF Grant

Social Agents and Robots for Open-ended Domains

Jul 16, 2013 | Atlanta, GA

Brian Magerko, associate professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, received a National Science Foundation grant in July 2013.

The project, funded for three years, will examine how to create intelligent agents and robots that can interact with humans in open-ended, narrative domains. It focuses on how intelligent agents and humans can co-create narrative experiences in open-ended story environments, like playing with cars and blocks on a play mat.

The work will focus on how narrative elements can be "conceptually blended" with other elements during object-based pretend play, such as blending story scripts (e.g. cars going to work blended with Godzilla attacking the city) or blending real and imaginary objects (e.g. using a long, rectangular block as a bridge across a pretend river). It will also explore how to take turns in object-based pretend play, informing the intelligent agent when and how to make socially acceptable moves.